Her Early Life

Judith Leyster (1609-1660) was a Dutch painter of genre scenes, still lifes and portraits. She was one of the most recognised female figures and belonged to the Dutch Golden Age of art. Judith was born in Haarlem, the Netherlands in July 1609. She was the eighth of the nine siblings of her parents. Her father was a brewer and her mother was a weaver. Judith took up painting as a career to support the family after her father’s bankruptcy.

She Joins Haarlem’s Guild

Historians feel that Judith probably learned to paint from Frans Pietersz de Grebber, who had a workshop in Haarlem in the 1620s. She was extremely successful during her lifetime as a painter. Experts feel that there are similarities between her paintings and those of Frans Hals. In 1633, Judith applied to join Haarlem’s Guild of St. Luke’s, an organisation for beginners. She succeeded in getting admission into the Guild and thereafter, she belonged to the artist’s union, the Haarlem Guild of St. Luke. She was one of the first women to do so.

Courageous enough to Sue Frans Hals

She set up her own studio in that same year and took on three pupils. When one of her students left her studio and joined Frans Hals, she had the courage to stand up to him and sue that well-established painter in the Court of Law. This was the proof of her assertiveness and bravery. An art historian, James A Welu wrote that though it was inappropriate to judge someone’s personality on the basis of financial transactions, Leyster, from all accounts, appears to have been a confident individual.

Busy Period Short-Lived

Historians feel that during the years between 1629 and 1635, Leyster was busy and produced much of her paintings. She followed the artistic styles of some of the famous painters of her time such as Frans Hals and his brother Dirfh and Jan Steen. Her busy period came to an end in about 1630. In June 1636, Leyster married the painter Jan Miese Molenaer in Haarlem. Molenaer was already a prolific artist and also a member of the Haarlem Guild of St. Luke. The couple moved to Amsterdam in that same year where they lived until 1648. Here in Amsterdam, their career flourished as they knew several clients and art dealers. The couple had four children, two daughters and two sons. out of whom only two survived into adulthood.

Out of Limelight for Long

After fading into obscurity for a long time, Judith Leyster resurfaced again in the art world in the late 19th century. Out of her 35 surviving paintings, most were attributed either to Frans Hals or to Leyster’s husband, Jan Miense Molenaer. The remaining works that were not given the names of either of them remained unattributed. Leyster’s name remained out of the limelight of the art world for the better of nearly 200 years. It was as though Lester never existed.

‘Honest Confusion’ and ‘Financial Gains’ Denying Her Ownership

Besides being contemporaries and colleagues, Leyster and Frans Hals had a teacher-student relationship. The historians believe that these circumstances left scope for the contents of their works being similar in technique. This was partly the reason why misattribution went on for a long time. Experts say that initially, it was the honest confusion of historians that disabled judgement of ownership between the two similarly trained artists. However, during the course of time there evolved a malicious intent and possible fraud to decide the ownership of the paintings in the later years. The art dealers were clinging to their financial gains and their intent not to ruin the illusion. However, Leyster’s distinctive signature and her characteristic style in using light and shade in her paintings weighed in deciding the ownership in her favour much later.

‘Happy Couple’, a Decider

A highly engrossing story played out in discovering the real Judith Leyster. It was her famous painting ‘The Happy Couple’ that decided the case of misplaced attribution of her painting by others. The story begins with two English art dealers who bought the painting ‘Happy Couple’ and then sold it to a customer. The customer noticed that the signature on the painting did not belong to Frans Hals and the case became a legal battle. A famous Dutch historian, Cornelis Hofstede de Groot, testified in court as a witness and confirmed that the signature did not belong to Frans Hals but to the female Dutch Painter named Judith Leyster. The dealers blamed each other for misattribution.

Prominence Post Investigation

De Groot’s further discovery helped track down some more Leyster’s works bearing her characteristic signature. Her name gained prominence thereafter and became part of mainstream art history. Many of the major exhibitions started dedicating exhibitions to her paintings. Many art historians still believe that they have not seen the last of Leyster as she did not stop painting after her marriage. There are still possibilities that many of her paintings might have been attributed to her husband. Judith was famous and respected by her contemporaries. She was eventually forgotten after her death. All her paintings became attributed to either Frans Hals or her husband until she was rediscovered in 1893.

‘David with the Head of Goliath’ (1633)

‘David with the Head of Goliath’ was Judith’s one famous historical painting.